Leftist candidate Josipovic wins Croatia presidential runoff

Voting at 6,863 polling stations closed at 19:00 local time (18:00 GMT) on Sunday.

With 99.6% of ballots counted, Josipovic, who vowed to fight firmly against crime and corruption, won 60.3 % of the votes, while his challenger, the incumbent Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandic, garnered 39.7% of the votes.

Josipovic, a 52-year-old law professor and classical music composer, won 32.4% of the votes during the first round of the election on December 27 last year. He failed, however, to gain an outright majority in the first round to win the election.

Josipovic supports Croatia's goal to complete talks this year on the country's accession to the European Union and become the bloc's member by 2012.

According to official estimates, the country's economy is expected to shrink by almost 6% in 2009, while unemployment remains high at around 16%, Kazinform cites RIA Novosti. See www.en.rian.ru for full version.